“Sade, are you alright?” June asked a line pinched between her light brown brows.
“Mmhmm,” I hummed.
Well, the guy I’ve been calling you crying about isright here, but I’m good.
Jamison considered me with a soft lift of his lips as if this was a happy accident. And wasn’t that just like our dynamic. Me feeling one thing, and him feeling another.Happywas nowhere to be found inside of my body.
“Okay, well, this is Mike’s brother, Gene,” June explained.
“Gene?” I forced out between clenched teeth.
Jamison tilted his head, the grin falling flat on his face. “Only my family calls me that.”
My tongue felt too big for my mouth, but somehow I managed to articulate, “Nice to meet you,Gene.”
My God, have I been losing my goddamn mind over a man named,Gene?!
I didn’t know how I would ever trust my judgment again.
His eyebrows shot up toward his sandy brown hair, his jaw hung loose, before he nodded once. “Yeah, nice to...meet you too.”
The hesitation before ‘meet’ was so slight, I didn’t think June had noticed, but I still wanted to punch his arm and scream, “This is your fault, you know!”
Instead, I said, “Peanut, I’m gonna check-in and clean up. I’ll text you when I’m done.”
“Do you want help with your stuff?” she asked.
“No, go find Mike. I’ve got it.” I was already walking to the front desk as I said, “I’m sure I’ll see you around,Gene.”
So much for hiding in bushes to avoid my most reoccurring mistake.
Chapter 3
Jamison
Iwas used to holding my expression in a tight grip. I could play along better than most people, but I’d be lying if I said I understood why Sadie was pretending we were strangers. We worked together, had drinks together, and spent some of the best nights of my life together.
For fuck’s sake, I had texted her last night.
Iknewher.
June was commenting on how happy she was that I was there and that the four of us could finally hang out while we moved slowly toward the doors leading toward The Brontë building, where I would be staying.
“It’s gonna make such a difference having you and Sadie here—”
“Hey, I think I left my room key at the front desk,” I interrupted making a show of padding my joggers’ pockets like my keycard wasn’t right under my right hand. “You go find Mike, and I’ll meet up with you after a shower.”
She shrugged. “That’s cool. I’ll let him know you’re here. You’re a lifesaver, as always.”
“As always,” I joked, but there was some truth to her comment. Our roles were clear in my family, and it was my job to put out every fire and be the voice of logic. A job that was getting less taxing with my brother being a responsible adult and my mom getting more comfortable as a widow. “Don’t tell my mom I’m here yet. I’ll find her as soon as I’m cleaned up.”
“I won’t, but you’re gonna want to hurry, she has her ways.”
I moved through the lobby, my eyes trained on Sadie. Her dark brown hair hung in a messy braid ending just below her shoulder blades. Leggings stretched across her thighs, but her ass was hidden by a loose-fitting black T-shirt. It hadn’t been that long since those legs had been wrapped around me. And yet, she pretended not to know me.
Maybe her family was more conservative?
It wasn’t like I was going to introduce her to my mom as my friend with benefits, but how were we supposed to pretend we didn’t know one another?
